Menorise; Saturday Sayings

"How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind."

(Bob Dylan)

...This song needs sung again...

Menosukhi - Irvine's Pupdate

Long-term readers will know that I sponsor guide dog puppies in their training. For two years it was Isaac. This year it changed over to Irvine. Well, here's the latest!

Hello, I’m Abigail, Irvine’s Puppy Walker. Welcome to his second Pupdate; I’m pleased to say Irvine is doing fantastically well. Since you last heard from me, his lead work has improved, with the help of lots of praise and treats! He’s also much more confident in his own company, as before he used to whine for attention. Now he’s happy to lie down and snooze with his big teddy.

Exploring the world;  We’ve been busy getting out and about, to get Irvine used to lots of different environments. It’s really important for Irvine to experience a variety of places so he’s comfortable and confident wherever he may go with his future owner. We’ve been on lots of transport such as trains and buses, on which Irvine is a complete star. He’s very happy to curl up under the seat, out of everyone’s way, and he has a habit of licking people’s feet!

We recently went on trip to Westfield in London which was really busy. Irvine was brilliant and coped well with the crowds of people. He gets so much attention when he’s out and loves meeting new people. We even met some of his sponsors when we were fundraising for Guide Dogs.

Confidence boost; Irvine is such a friendly pup and he’s super cuddly too. I honestly can’t say a bad word about him. He loves his food and will always choose it over toys! He’s very sociable and willing to learn too. We play a game with his big ted, where we hide it and then Irvine has to find him.

Irvine’s a very playful pup and loves running around with his best friend Mitty. They go on walks together to the park and she’s great at bringing out his confidence, as he tends to keep quite close to us when out on free runs. But with Mitty there he’ll go bounding off into the distance with her! Importantly for his future owner, Irvine’s recall is amazing; he’s never had an issue with coming back when called.

My superstar; I’m so proud of Irvine and how much progress he has made so far. We’re just getting him used to his blue puppy walking jacket now as he’s sometimes hesitant to wear it. But we’re giving him lots of encouragement and he’s doing really well.

Menolyricism; Challenge Afoot!

The alert and observant among you will have spotted the new badge, top right. This is a magazine blog; it's meant to be busy, varied and fit a variety of moods. Think that brief is pretty much met.

The not so obvious purpose of this bloggy (and very much so over at Aatmaavrajanam), though, is to hone the writing skills. Here I can use a variety of 'voices' as one might require in fiction. At AV-bloggy, the voice is consistent, as would be required from a teacher. Developing narrative, explorative and descriptive, is a skill which can be developed. There are those who make a career out of telling other folk how to write... but in my experience the best lessons come from jumping in and doing it!

A few of you longer-term pals will know that writing is pretty much my main hobby and has even played a part in my professional life over the years. Part of the reason for early retirement and 'withdrawal' to rural parts was to create an atmosphere not only for spiritual practice, but to - finally - come to grips with the life-time desire to make something more of writing.

The Final Friday Fiction series is part of that; but this year, all discipline for personal writing had gone AWOL. Mainly due to matters outwith my control but which have infringed on my personal space and ability to remain disciplined. It was really getting me down about a month ago, as there is so much brewing inside and very little, if any, of it has made it the page. Just as I was starting to think I was a fraud (to myself, if no one else), I came upon a link to the NaNoWriMo page.

I had been aware of this initiative for several years but at no time took seriously the possibility that it would fit my needs. A couple of blogpals have put themselves through the mangle and mayhem that is National Novel Writing Month... it began in the US and thus the 'national' bit - but it is actually fully international and a true phenomenon. If any of you nurture a lust for literature and poetry and need some kind of push, then you should check it out!

Having forgotten all about it, just seven days ago I was thrashing around on matters of writing when that link appeared and it was one of those 'eureka' moments. For the first time I read through properly all that was on offer and how it works and what one might expect to gain from the experience. Before an hour had passed I was signed up and committed.

It's going to be crazy. between 1600 and 2000 words per day is the goal, with 50000 being the month-end hope. We can do some prep between now and Nov 1st, but no actual writing is to be done until - and then it is on for young and old. My prep is mainly going to be around getting AV and MY TAKE bloggies scheduled right up to mid December so that I don't have to factor in time for them. This blog will have to take its chances! Mostly you won't witness the paddling which is going on beneath the surface. However, I suspect this is going to be quite a consuming experience so you might expect a post or two about it along the way.

Anyhoo... was visiting Dora at Peppylady blog and she gave us a prompt a few posts back, which I am going to pick up and run with as a challenge for all of you!!! (hey, I don't want to feel alone, okay?)

NOVEMBER FINAL FRIDAY FICTION BLOG HOP.

Yes, I invite you all to get scribbling and create a poem or short story to be posted on Friday 24th of November. It will be a bloghop. All you have to do...

1. Take a favourite book and go to page 87; take a section from lines 8, 12 and 16.
2. using those phrases as a prompt, build a story around them. It can be either prose or poetry.
3. Try to keep it to not more than 500 words but at least 150.
4. Note the source text, it's author, and the actual phrases taken at the bottom of the post.
5. Schedule the post and prepare to link up to the bloghop - again I will be quite strict; only those who have properly entered a fiction post and who place a link-back to this blog will be kept on the hop.
6. As an added incentive, YAM will select one which she feels has extra merit and a special badge will be awarded to place on your sidebar.

For all participants - and for those who are willing to promote this bloghop - please take this badge and place a link to this page so that participants can always pop back to read the 'what, where and when'. Happy writing efurrybuddy!!!